The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

She hesitated. He tightened his grip, and while her breathing became even more of a struggle, her expression became angrier.

When he eased up again, she all but spat, “Yes, but neither of us have the appropriate code. And control's not likely to provide it. We haven't the clearance.”

“The hard way it is then.” Jonas shoved her forward. “Open the door.”

She did so. As the blast doors slowly responded, he knocked the woman out and then glanced at me. I might have been wrapped in a light shield but his gaze came unerringly to mine.

“Drop the shield and save your energy. We're probably going to need it later.” He drew a second gun. “Ready?”

“Yep. Let’s do this.”

As the light shield disintegrated around me, he went through the door. An alarm immediately sounded, the claxon sound sharp and loud in the silence of this place. I followed but swung on the other side to shoot both the scanner on the wall and the one in the door. If they worked along the same lines as the old blast doors in my bunker, then taking out the scanners would immediately kick in the secondary defense system, and the door would be sealed.

As sparks and smoke flew, a red light flashed and the door began to close again. Blast doors were notoriously hard to reopen, meaning we’d gained some respite from the additional forces that were undoubtedly on their way up. All we had to worry about now were the ones stationed on this side of the door.

I ran after Jonas, but we were barely halfway down the corridor when two men appeared. Jonas took one out; I took the other. We jumped over their bodies and ran on. From the other end of the corridor came the echoing sound of bootsteps—four more guards were approaching us.

Jonas slid to a stop, forcing me to do the same. “You want to try wrapping us both in that light shield?”

I held out my hand. Once he’d twined his fingers through mine, I reached for the light and dragged the power of it through me—and through him via our clasped hands—creating a shield faster than I’d ever done before. It made my head spin and my heart race, and for several seconds, it was only Jonas’s fierce grip that kept me upright.

With the shield in place, we moved across to the other side of the corridor to wait.

The four guards soon came into view, the two on the far side of the corridor slightly ahead of the two on our side. Neither of us moved; we simply waited for them to come to us.

A hollow boom bit through the air. I glanced around and saw dust pluming from the walls either side of the blast door. They weren’t making any attempt to get through it—they were instead trying to get around it. And that meant we once again had less time to get those children and get out of here.

Other side came Jonas’s comment, then he squeezed my fingers and released my hand.

As the light shield shimmered and went down, I raised my guns and shot the two guards on the far side of the corridor while he took out the two closest. The poor souls didn’t have a chance, but little sympathy stirred. They would have done exactly the same thing to us.

I reloaded my guns and followed Jonas. The booming behind us grew stronger, and the nearby walls shook. We had minutes, if that, left.

Cat, Bear? I said, as the corridor straightened and revealed six doorways. You got anything to report?

They didn’t immediately reply, but a few seconds later, Cat’s energy whisked around me, her excitement making the air spark. We found two air scooters and a hauler.

“Are they being guarded?” Jonas asked, passing a door without bothering to stop and check it.

With time now at a premium, the children had to be our priority.

Yes, Cat said. There are five men—two at the entrance onto the roof and one at the ramp of each vehicle.

“I don’t suppose any of them have drivers inside?” I asked.

No, Cat said.

Jonas glanced at me. “That’s going to make things difficult. I can probably rewire the hauler if it’s an older-style vehicle, but it’ll take more time than I suspect we have.”

“Have you heard anything from Nuri?”

“Yes, but they won’t get here in time to be of any use.”

“Then we’ve no choice but to make time.”

Time for Nuri’s forces to get closer, time for him to rewire the hauler.

“I’m not sure we have enough ammo to do that.” His voice was grim. “Cat, what’s our best way of getting up to the roof?”